Bureaucrats’ absence triggers Assembly protest

Jammu, Apr 1: Cutting across party lines, MLAs on Wednesday expressed concern over the absence of bureaucrats in the Legislative Assembly during Question Hour.
As Question Hour was nearing its end, NC MLA Nazi Gurezi alleged that bureaucrats were taking the House lightly.
Pointing to the officers’ gallery, the legislator said, “You look towards the gallery. This House is being taken lightly. I have been a member of this House for 22 years. This gallery used to be packed. The Chief Secretary used to be present during Question Hour. Commissioner Secretaries used to remain present. They think idle people (legislators) are sitting here.”
He urged the Chief Minister to take action against the bureaucrats. “They should come to the House. The CM should take action against these people. Why are they not coming to the House? Do they think they are above the CM and the House? What do they think of themselves? They are government servants; we are public representatives,” he said.
Gurezi was supported by all BJP legislators, who stood up in protest against the absence of bureaucrats. Soon, MLAs from NC, PDP, Congress, PC and independents also stood up in protest.
Intervening in the matter, Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather said that the topmost officers of the department whose questions are to be taken up should remain present in the House. “We cannot ask the entire secretariat to sit in the House. There is not much space in the officers’ gallery,” he explained.
Raising the issue, BJP’s Sham Lal Sharma said that the rulebook mandates the presence of the concerned administrative secretary of the department whose questions are to be taken up. He suggested that the business of any department whose officers are absent from the gallery should be deferred.
His party colleague Pawan Gupta also questioned the absence of bureaucrats in the House. “The executive is responsible to the legislature. Why are they not coming to the House? Why are they absent?” he asked. (KNO)